I'm trying to find a good way to slip some veggies into my breakfast smoothie each morning. Right now I make my breakfast with 1 banana, 1 carton of trader joe's fat free organic pro-biotic yogurt, 1 + 1/3 cup of frozen berries and 3/4 to 1 cup of orange juice (makes roughly two servings at 18 oz each)

I'd like to find a way of adding veggies to work in more nutrients and less calories into breakfast. I really love the convenience of this breakfast (pour fruit into blender, dump in banana, yogurt and splash of OJ and walk away in about a minute!).

Do you have any suggestions of veggies to add, or recipes of your own to share?

I saw that too, but I don't really know how to do it. I don't usually keep fresh spinach around the house, and I think if I had to chip off a block of frozen spinach into the blender... well I don't know if id do it - it sounds more labor intensive than I was hoping for. Although maybe trader joe's has a bag of spinnich along with the bags of salad mix... hmmm!

Most groceries have bagged spinach already washed near the prepared salads. Try just throwing a few leaves in. I would think that broccoli would taste stronger; don't know about its blending consistency, or that of cauliflower either. Try Googling spinach and smoothie and see what you get. Let us know!

__________________Cassie

And now that you don't have to be perfect, you can be good.
-John Steinbeck

I throw in spinach in mine, you can't even taste it. Just make sure you blend it well or you might get a little leaf in your throat..lol The way I make mine and you can't even taste it is chocolate protein powder, 1/2 banana, some blue berries, 1/2 cup almond milk, 1/2 water and 2 tbsp flaxseed..Yumm I look forward to it everyday it's like a treat!!

So the power of the internets agrees that the fresh baby spinach is a good way to start, also maybe some kale, and chard. Another idea was cucumber i'm thinking of trying! My husband does not like cucumber, but i'm hoping that it's mild enough that the fruit might overpower it.

Do any of you have experience with protein powders? Any you would recommend?

I have never tried another other veggie. It's worth a try tho. That's what I did with the spinach, and it was good. Let me know if you try them.

I'm not an expert on powders. I just know I have plenty of bad experience with them. The 2 I use now is Revolutionary Technology Bionic Whey Chocolate it no chemicals or artificial sweeteners(my fav) I want to try their other flavors too. It was on back order so I tried Gold Standard Whey chocolate and I like it! But I will most likely go back to the Bionic whey when I run out of the Gold Standard, but it's a good back up one.

This morning I added a handful of spinach, just one piece of steamed cauliflower and one scoop of protein powder along with the Orange Juice, yogurt, banana and frozen berries.

Good news is, my husband still drank it! The protein powder made it a TON thicker than I expected (especially since I only put in half of a serving), and the cauliflower was definitely noticeable. I don't think either of us could taste the spinach though! (Well, my husband thinks he could, but I didn't tell him I put in cauliflower - sometimes I have to sneak in veggies before he will accept that he will like them. I know he isn't a child, but if he had his way, we would eat steak and potatoes and not eat anything green unless it was 14&#37; alcohol by volume).

I think tomorrow I’ll cut out the cauliflower, keep the spinach and the protein powder.

Another related question - have any of you used carrots in a smoothie? I'm not sure if my blender could handle a raw baby carrot, or if maybe I should use shredded, or steam the baby carrots first?